Brian Vanderhoff's North Fulton Real Estate Blog

Close to 1,200 students could be affected by Cherokee County School District's boundary redrawing process that will begin next month.

Boundary focus group meetings will begin Dec. 1.

The redistricting is needed to determine who will attend the new Mill Creek Middle School under construction in southeast Cherokee, which is designed to hold 1,200 students.

The annual process also usually addresses new neighborhoods, population surges and whether adjustments to boundary lines need to be made to reduce overcrowding.

The school board will conduct a public input meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 and will consider voting on the proposed boundaries at 7 p.m. Feb. 5.

The district's first round of meetings will be from 7 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 1 at Holly Springs Elementary, Dec. 2 at Dean Rusk Middle, Dec. 8 at Woodstock Middle, Dec. 10 at Mill Creek Middle, Dec. 11 at Carmel Elementary and Dec. 12 at Woodstock Elementary.

Teasley Middle and Cherokee High will meet together at the high school on Dec. 16, Creekland and Creekview will meet together at the high school on Dec. 17 and Sequoyah High will meet on Dec. 18.

If necessary, the district will conduct a second round of meetings beginning in January.

Holly Spring's second meeting is tentatively set for Jan. 7; Dean Rusk on Jan. 8; Woodstock Middle on Jan. 14; Carmel on Jan. 20; Woodstock Elementary on Jan. 15; Teasley and Cherokee on Jan. 13; Creekland and Creekview on Jan. 12; and Sequoyah on Jan. 6.

District officials will use community input to come up with its recommended school boundaries for the 2009-10 school year, which will require the school board's approval.

The meetings are being conducted earlier this school year to make the process "more in line" with the district's reappointment, transfers, staffing and budget schedule, according to Mike McGowan, director of public information, communications and partnerships.

McGowan added the district has no pre-conceived redistricting plans nor the exact number of students who will be impacted by boundary redrawings.

"It's way too early to know how many students will be affected," he said. "We're just seeking community input."

District officials also have not made any finals plans as far as grade configuration, he said.

Many in the community have suggested using a model similar to the Creekland Middle and Creekview High school configuration, according to the district. There, they opened the middle school with sixth,- seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students for the first year. The second year of its operations, when the high school opened, the middle school served only the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

Little, if any, concerns or questions about redistricting have been raised so far, according to district staff.

"Once the meetings begin, we will all know what parent's concerns are for this year's session," said Russ Sims, assistant superintendent for support services and facilities/construction management.

Sequoyah High PTA Vice President Dede DeCosta of Hickory Flat said she's talked to a few people in passing who had questions about the process.

"It's just a wait and see attitude," said Mrs. DeCosta, whose child is a senior at the school.

Creekland Middle PTSA Vice President Ludi Allen of Avery agreed, saying the questions asked by parents aren't ones of concerns or negativity.

"It's been pretty much quiet," she said.

Labels: Cherokee COunty, creekland middle, Redistricting, sequoyah high school

Redistricting is often a hot button issue, but in Alpharetta residents of three neighborhoods have taken to the streets to voice their complaints.

Parents and students from Coventry, Gatewood and Rhodes Plantation staged a protest over a proposed redistricting plan which would separate their children and send some of them to Manning Oaks Elementary. According to Coventry resident Thomas Bose, about 100 people showed up for the symbolic walk along the half mile stretch of sidewalk from their neighborhoods to Cogburn Woods Elementary.

“We had a really big crowd — it was amazing,” said Bose. “With the protest we wanted to show our solidarity. There’s no good reason for any of our neighborhoods to leave the district, it doesn’t help anybody.”

With one more redistricting meeting left Dec. 10 for the new school on Birmingham Highway in Milton, Bose said more demonstrations may be in the works. Of the Fulton County Planning Department’s three alternative school district plans, Bose said Plan A is the “worst.”

The plan would split up the three neighborhoods and would send children from Coventry and Gatewood to Manning Oaks, a distance Bose said was about five miles away, leaving Rhodes Plantation at Cogburn Woods, which is about half a mile by sidewalk from all three neighborhoods.

“The plan would send kids on buses through three or four neighborhoods with four-way stops and use more fuel and cost more,” said Bose. “And it doesn’t even meet the county’s own criteria of geographic proximity, traffic, neighborhood groupings and numbers — mathematically it’s not an issue.”

Bose said he and the other residents of the three neighborhoods prefer Plan B, which would keep their children at Cogburn Woods and have the least disruption for students.

Susan Hale, Fulton County Schools spokeswoman, said reactions may be strong because the first parents just saw the first redistricting maps at the Nov. 13 meeting. She said 800 people attended the meeting and the planning department is still working through all the comments and are looking for common themes in order to make changes to the redistricted boundaries.

“We are still in the middle in the process and I encourage people to come to the Dec. 10 meeting and stay involved in the process and show support for their school,” said Ms. Hale. “In other counties when they do rezoning they only hear from two or three parents but we’re hearing from 800 because we have a different process here. It’s great that so many people are involved.”

Ms. Hale said the final redistricting plans would be presented to the Fulton County School Board in January and would be voted on in February. She said she would encourage parents to contact their school board members and voice their opinions.

The third redistricting meeting for the new elementary school on Birmingham Highway in Milton is Dec. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Milton Center, 86 School Drive in Alpharetta.

Information: visit www.fultonschools.org/redistricting

Labels: Alpharetta, Fulton County, fulton county schools, Georgia, milton, Redistricting, Roswell

Don't forget Thursday night's (11/13/08) redistricting meeting - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Milton High School Milton Center.

Check out this website: http://www.fultonschools.org/redistricting/bham.htm . It gives information about the 1st school redistricting meeting (Round 1) and there is a video explaining the process.

Round Two - November 13th
Staff will present alternative proposals for new attendance zones.
Community members will offer comments on strengths and weaknesses of each plan in facilitated small-group discussions.
Prior to the next community forum, staff will condense the number of attendance zone alternatives based on public input.

Round Three - December 10th
Community members will review and provide input on revised attendance zone draft plans in facilitated small-group discussions.
Staff will use comments to develop a final attendance zone recommendation for Board consideration.

The Fulton County Board of Education will be reviewing the new attendance zone recommendations during their meetings. Final action is planned for February 2009. Changes in the attendance zones will go into effect in August 2009 with the opening of the new elementary school.

Labels: Crabapple Crossing Elementary, fulton county schools, Milton High School, northwestern middle, oxford lakes, Redistricting, roswell high school, summit hill elementary, sweet apple elementary, waterside

With a new school under construction on Birmingham Highway in Milton, redistricting to fill the school is an inevitable part of the growing pains.

The Fulton County school system will hold three rounds of meetings at Elkins Pointe Middle School in Roswell. The purpose of the meetings is to gather information from parents and community members to help the Fulton County School Board make decisions about redistricting lines.

New attendance zones will be voted on by the school board in February and they will go into effect next August, in time for the new school year.

According to Kirk Wilks, communications director for the Fulton County School system, the process cannot work without attendance and participation at the meetings.

Fulton County Schools Spokeswoman Susan Hale said the redistricting criteria is followed closely by the school system planning staff to ensure fairness for all school redistrictings.

“During the meetings, community members will review the school board’s redistricting criteria, primary and secondary, and can comment on residential development, traffic, previous redistricting, special programs and other issues,” said Ms. Hale.

Ms. Hale also said land has been bought for a new high school in Milton. The 64-acre site at the intersection of Bethany Bend and Cogburn Road in Milton is intended to relieve overcrowding and future enrollment west of Ga. 400. The new Milton High School is expected to open in 2012.

The Milton elementary school redistricting meetings will take place Oct. 23, Nov. 13 and Dec. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Elkins Pointe Middle School, 11290 Elkins Road in Roswell.

Labels: Alpharetta, birmingham elementary, Birmingham Highway, city of milton, elkins point middle school, fulton county schools, milton elementary school, Redistricting

An unprecedented four maps have been drawn up showing proposed attendance lines for two high schools in North Fulton that will shift with the opening of the new high school in Johns Creek in August 2009.

In past redistricting, staff brought three proposals back to the community before settling on a final proposal. The complexity of setting zones in a densely populated area, along with many large subdivisions and neighborhood alliances, made a fourth map a necessity, noted school officials. This could make the process of getting down to one map a challenge for staff members

"We usually have three maps, but we wanted to get all the ideas and options out there [for community review]," noted Patrick Burke, chief facilities officer for Fulton Schools, during a community meeting last week.

At the May 5 meeting at Autrey Mill Middle School, more than 300 area residents turned out to see the first batch of proposed attendance lines for Chattahoochee, Northview and the new Johns Creek high school for the 2008-2009 school year.

The maps were drawn up following the comments received by residents at the first meeting in April. Burke said every comment and suggestion received was considered – taking up more than 11 pages of notes - although not every one was incorporated.

"We tried to use input we gathered, but as you can see we haven't met all the [suggestions]," said Burke, who has been the chief planner for Fulton Schools for a decade. "Staff has to balance all things."

During last week's meeting, residents again broke into small working groups to discuss the pros and cons of each of the four proposals.
Burke said the school system staff is now in the process of taking those new comments and suggestions as they work towards one map to be presented to the Fulton County Board of Education for final approval. The community will have a final chance to present comments to the staff at the third community meeting on May 20.

"After May 20, staff participation on the attendance lines will be done and [the map] will go to the school board for further action," explained Burke. "It's scheduled to be considered by the board in June, with final action in September."

That schedule gives the community the entire summer to lobby for further changes to the attendance lines, although historically, board members have made only minor modifications to the staff recommendations.

New attendance lines are only affecting Northview, Chattahoochee and the Johns Creek site in the current redistricting. The other high schools in North Fulton will undergo redistricting in three years when the high school on Freemanville Road in Milton opens in 2012.

"We are leaving some overcrowding in some area high schools in anticipation of 2012, when it will be addressed," said Burke, who said redistricting for the Freemanville high school will begin in the spring of 2011.

The new high school site in Johns Creek opens 2009 August on a 70-acre site at the corner of State Bridge Road and Medlock Bridge. Its location, just a few miles from Chattahoochee and Northview high schools, presents difficult decisions in setting the school boundaries.

In many instances school boundaries must be to the north and west of the school location to draw in students, as opposed to being at the center of the attendance zone.

In determining boundaries, staff works from a set of criteria established by the Fulton School Board. There are primary criteria for attendance lines, then secondary criteria if needed.

The main consideration is geographic proximity to the school. However, in the current circumstance, that would put fewer than 1,000 students at the new school, said Burke.

"We can't just send the closest kids to the [new high school]; we've got to go further north to make the numbers work."

So tough decisions must be made to maintain an attendance balance at the three schools.

For instance, sprawling St. Ives Country Club subdivision is zoned for the new school on two proposals, even though it borders Northview High along one entrance to the subdivision. This is the case at several neighborhoods, including subdivisions along Kimball Bridge Road and Parsons Road, meaning a vast number of kids may attend a high school that is actually further away from their closest high school.

The four proposed maps and the list of criteria are available at fultonschools.org/redistricting. Residents unable to attend either of the first two community meetings are encouraged to send their comments to Burke via e-mail.

Labels: fulton county schools, Johns Creek, New High School, Redistricting

Forsyth County Schools (FCS) are currently redrawing school attendance zones for the 2009-10 school year. This redistricting is necessary because of overcrowding at current schools and the opening of five new schools in August, 2009. These schools include Brookwood ES, Haw Creek ES, Whitlow ES, Lakeside MS and Lambert HS.
For a timeline, maps, FAQs and video, visit www.forsyth.k12.ga.us, go to "select a link" and select "redistricting."
The final lines will be approved in May 2008. Prior to approval, there will be three drafts of maps posted online and in your school on 2/20, 3/5 and 4/3.
Suggestions on the first two drafts can be submitted online or by calling 770-887-2461, extension 205025.
Local School Councils (LSCs) will also have an opportunity to provide suggestions for improving the drafts. Suggestions on the third draft can be shared at two public forums, 4/22/08 at 7 p.m. at Forsyth Central HS and 4/29/08 at 7 p.m. at South Forsyth HS.


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Why are school attendance lines being redrawn?
School attendance lines are being redrawn to accommodate the opening of the following schools in 2009:
• Brookwood ES, a two-story school located on Vaughn Drive
• Whitlow ES, a one story school located on Castleberry Road
• Haw Creek ES and Lakeside MS, two two-story schools located adjacent to each other on Echols Road.
• Lambert HS, which is located next to Sharon Elementary on Nichols Road. Lambert is a two story design similar to West Forsyth High. Lambert will open without a senior class.
These schools are funded by our voters who approved the 2006 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and bond referendum. New lines are also being redrawn to accommodate the overcrowding at our existing schools.

Why is FCS opening new schools?
FCS continues to be one of the fastest growing school districts in Georgia and the nation. We have grown from a medium size system to a large system by adding more than 20,000 students since 1995, a more than 200 percent increase. This is the equivalent of adding approximately 19 new middle schools. Currently, FCS is home to close to 31,000 students and is projected to grow to over 50,000 students in 5 years.

How are the new schools being funded?
The new schools are being funded with monies from the state and from the voter approved the 2006 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST III) and bond referendum. This SPLOST/bond is separate from the county (commissioners) and city's SPLOST.

How can I provide feedback?
• Web form -- www.forsyth.k12.ga.us, go to "select a link" and choose redistricting
• Voice mail - 770-887-2461 x205025
• 2 Community Forums for public input
Cluster meetings will also be held for school LSC members.
More information is available at www.forsyth.k12.ga.us.

Labels: Forsyth, Forsyth County Schools, Redistricting, School